Zeiss Bau 59, Office high-rise in Jena, Germany.
Zeiss Bau 59 is an office high-rise in Jena with 16 floors and 67 meters in height. It stands out for its glass corner tower and curved roof shape that sets it apart from nearby buildings.
The building was constructed between 1959 and 1965 as a research facility for Carl Zeiss Jena during East Germany's industrial growth. After reunification, it was converted and now serves as an office building.
The building carries the Zeiss name and occupies a site long known for technical innovation in the city. Artworks in the entrance area show how industry and culture were once intertwined here.
Bau 59 stands on the former Carl Zeiss factory grounds in central Jena, a short walk from the city centre. It is a working office building, so entry is normally limited to tenants and their guests; the entrance area redesigned by Ben Willikens in 1993 is best seen from the outside.
The 1992–1993 redesign by the architects Rödl & Braschel gave the tower its present form: a cut-out in the facade, a glass corner tower and a curved roof crown. Only then did the research high-rise acquire the name Bau 59, or B 59. In 1993 Ben Willikens redesigned the entrance area, and in 2011 Christian Graf von Wedel took over the building.
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